But you can tell by his expression at the end that as soon as his wife learned how to make a good cup of coffee that the affair came to an end. And that's all that matters.

Very cute for a 1960s commercial.

In my opinion, Harvey is having sex at work.
Not with women but with guys.
His wife should divorce him.
IN MY OPINION.

The message: "Honey, you'll always be a totally inadequate piece of crap wife until you learn to make a decent cup of coffee."

Despite the happy ending, I still feel this guy is fooling around with the "girls at the office".

Have always regarded Folger's as something to drink out of sheer desperation when you run out of regular coffee and can't make it to the store. Pretty harsh, dreadful stuff.

"Well, see you later."
This is a scream.

This ad has a lot of hidden messages. "As good as fresh perked." Does anyone still use percolaters? That kind of coffee was always overcooked and bad. Instant coffee was originally developed by the Army for use in C rations. If this lady really wants to turn on her husband, she should invest in a French press.

...I think the previous reviewers are taking this silly if cute commercial a bit too seriously. It's a coffee commercial. It isn't meant to change the world.

That, said, it's a great commercial, one of the best in Rick's fabulous archive.

This is my favorite Folgers ad. It does follow the typical Folgers routine (wife makes bad cup of coffee, husband gets pissed, wife makes Folgers coffee, husband is happy) but there is so much more drama here, even a hinted office affair! If I were his wife I would have dumped that scalding pot of coffee on his lap.

I believe the first ten seconds of this ad are possibly one my favourite moment out of the entire archive. The breakfast bliss of Harvey and his wife are shattered when he inexplicably rips into her coffee making ability, makes a veiled threat that he's going to start looking for other women, and then in one of history's great passive-agressive turns delares "well, see you later" and exits dramatically stage left.

Of course this outburst is entirely the fault of the wife's poor culinary skills, but once her non-phased friend turns her on to instant coffee (as opposed to, say, some counciling) the only rift in their otherwise rock-solid union is closed and the loving couple enjoy a romantic evening in their now completely dark living room.

Of course we all know it's only a matter of minutes until Harvey blows up at another trivial matter, but it doesn't matter by then. Folgers has made it's point: If you don't buy their coffee, your husband will start sleeping around at the office. An axiom that remains true today.

When asked what Harvey wants for his birthday, he only wants a good cup of coffee. "It's Undrinkable!" His wife says "That's pretty harsh!" "So's your coffee!" the husband snaps back. "You know the girls at the office make better coffee on their hotplates!"

What the girls are doing on hotplates is not explained.